Indonesia Embraces Parents to Make People’s Schools a Success
By: Gezza Nur Fahruddin
President Prabowo Subianto has a grand vision for the future of Indonesian education through the People’s School program, a breakthrough that not only targets the younger generation, but also involves the active role of parents in the education process and family economic empowerment. This is not just a free education policy, but a comprehensive strategy to break the chain of structural poverty.
The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs, under the leadership of Saifullah Yusuf, shows how this program is designed with a holistic approach. Quality free education is indeed the main foundation. However, the government does not stop there. Realizing that the success of a child’s education is largely determined by the economic and social stability of their family, the government also involves parents of students in the empowerment program.
The Minister of Social Affairs will not only provide quality free education, but will also carry out economic empowerment for parents of People’s School students. If parents are interested in starting a business, they will be given training first and then facilitated with capital. This confirms that the government does not want to make parents spectators in children’s education programs, but rather active actors who are given skills and access to capital to improve the family’s standard of living.
The Ministry of Social Affairs also touched on a sensitive but crucial issue, namely the living conditions of students’ parents. In many cases, poverty not only hinders access to education, but also limits decent living space for children. Like the story of the Herman family, whose house stands on land owned by the PU Service with a narrow and rickety condition, inhabited by six people.
This kind of house cannot possibly be a healthy place for children who are studying to grow. The government has stated its commitment to improving conditions like this, even relocating families if necessary, of course with full support from the local government.
The central government’s commitment has been warmly welcomed by the regions. The West Java Provincial Government, for example, is one of the driving forces behind the implementation of the People’s School. The Regional Secretary of West Java, Herman Suryatman, emphasized his party’s readiness to oversee this program as a whole. Herman added that the West Java Provincial Government is ready to oversee and ensure that the implementation of the People’s School program initiated by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, runs optimally. Until now, there are at least 1,150 prospective students who will be the first batch, spread across 11 areas in West Java.
This statement not only illustrates the enthusiasm of the regional bureaucracy, but also shows that this program has a real foothold in the field. Educational infrastructure has begun to be built, the student registration system has been running, and cross-agency coordination is taking place intensively. This reflects responsive and collaborative governance.
No less progressive, Jember Regency under the leadership of Regent Muhammad Fawait has shown concrete support for the People’s School. Fawait, who is known as a young figure with high concern for education, said that education is the key to long-term poverty alleviation.
Not just words, the Jember Regency Government has prepared 9 hectares of land specifically for the construction of People’s School facilities. This is real proof that central-regional collaboration is not just discourse, but is actually implemented. Gus Fawait also said that the Jember Regency Government continues to develop the quality of human resources through education, ensuring that the young generation of Jember will grow as independent and quality human beings.
What the government is currently building is a development model that touches the roots of social problems: education and poverty. People’s School is not a short-term project, but rather a long-term social investment. It requires cooperation from all parties, starting from the government, the community, and of course the parents of students as the innermost circle of the process of forming children’s character and intelligence.
This type of education model cannot be successful without the active participation of families. The government understands this, and therefore provides comprehensive support: starting from financing education, economic empowerment, to arranging housing. This is a form of the state’s presence as a whole, not just building school buildings, but also ensuring that the students’ homes become places that support the growth and development of Indonesian children.
